This chapter is a case study of social and urban programs that make the best use of people to meet everyone's needs in the city of Curitiba, Brazil.
They implemented hundreds of "multipurpose, cheap, fast, homegrown, people-centered initiatives harnessing market mechanisms, common sense, and local skills" (p288).
In 1971, the governor of "Parana State had chosen as mayor of its capital city a 33 yr old architect, engineer, urban planner, and humanist named Jaime Lerner. He was previously president of the Curitiba Research and Urban Planning Institute.
Some of the projects:
- resurrecting the historic boulevard, the Rua das Flores (Street of Flowers), Brazil's first pedestrian mall.
- kept narrow streets of city center instead of "urban renewal," which is to demolish centrally located building to widen roads.
- zoning specifications for building nearest bus avenues could have up to six times as much floorspace as land area.
- mixed use was encouraged for urban buildings
- city strategically bought nearby land in selected areas and built low-income housing on it so as to ensure affordable access to jobs, shops, and recreation.
- built schools, clinics, daycare centers, parks, food distribution centers, and cultural and sports facilities throughout its suburbs, democratizing amenities previously available only to those who journeyed downtown
- good bus system instead of subway with a specially designed platform so people step right onto the buses. "Each lane of express buses carries 20,000 passengers/hr, comparable to subways. Buses make 17,300 daily trips, on nearly 500 route-miles, covering 230,000 bus-miles/day. Plus, the bus system is entirely self-financing from fares. (p294)" Flat rates, unlimited-transfer fare, is one of the many reasons why a poor person in Curitiba typically enjoys a higher standard of living than a poor person in Sao Paulo, who has to spend over twice as much on transportation. Curitiba has lowest rate of car drivership and cleanest urban air, which saves 7 million gallons of fuel/year and uses 1/4 less fuel per capita than other Brazilian cities.
- to deal with flooding "design with nature" strategy by making parks along water and new lakes. Also put in policies to encourage trees and gardens. 1/6 of city is wooded.
- recruited 500 nonpolluting industries, and zone so that commute is minimal for employees.
- Lighthouses of Knowledge - libraries that have a light and policeman on top to keep neighborhoods safe
- preventative health care starting with children - obligatory free checkups utnil age five.
- "Garbage that isn't garbage" initiative, "led more than 70% of households to sort recyclables for thrice-weekly curbside collection by the green trucks of the private firm that won a public competition for the franchise. Sorting stations hire the homeless, the disabled, and recovering alcoholics. Landfill use has been reduced by 1/6 in weight, and even more in volume" (p301).
- Garbage Purchase Program
- "Green Exchange" - citizens bring garbage in exchange for food tickets or bus tokens.
- Community Orchards Program - to grow and sell food in neighborhood gardens
- Centers for Integrated Education, a supplement to conventional schooling
- affordable daycare centers open 11 hrs/day
- Program for Childhood and Adolescence Integration - jobs for school-age dropouts, employing them in entry level jobs, often environmental skills like forestry, water management, etc
- housing program for migrants - build their own homes instead of providing slum housing
- Citizenship Streets at larger bus stops, clusters of municipal offices to bring government closer to population
- "city's array of telephone and web-based resources and hotlines" - more participation from citizens in local government and communities
Lerner quote "If people feel respected, they will assume responsibility to help solve other problems" (p308).
1 comment:
Sounds like heaven!
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